Bylaws Change - 2013

APPAM members ratified two sets of changes in the Association bylaws in June 2013. One set of changes reduces the size of the Policy Council as well as change its composition. A second set of minor changes aligns the bylaws with current Association practices that have been in place for several years.

All active APPAM members received an email with an electronic ballot and voting instructions. Voting began on June 5 and ended June 26, 2013. The bylaws change was approved by a margin of six to one.

I. Changes in the Composition and Size of the APPAM Policy Council

The Policy Council approved a plan to change the composition and reduce the size of the APPAM Policy Council. Creating a smaller Policy Council increases the engagement of Policy Council members and creates a cohesive, active working group that can effectively govern APPAM. The details below outline the gradual reduction in the Policy Council from 43 members to 29 members.

The approved plan also adds two student members and designates early career members of the Policy Council. These changes were designed to help the Policy Council better address the needs of younger members and develop future leaders of APPAM.

The Policy Council asked members to vote to ratify the attached changes in Sections IV.1, 4, 5a, 5b, and 5c of the APPAM bylaws, which are required to initiate the changes described in the summary below.

Objectives of the proposed bylaw changes related to composition and size of the Policy Council

Previously, the Policy Council included 43 members: 28 members elected by the membership (seven elected each year for four-year terms, including two self-identified practitioners), four members elected from and by the institutional representatives (one elected each year for a four-year term), nine APPAM officers, and two ex officio members (the executive director and the JPAM editor).

The motion approved by the Policy Council now reduces the total size of the Policy Council from 43 to 29 members over a period of four years, beginning in 2013. This reduction is achieved by reducing the annual flow of elected members from seven to three individuals. Among the three members selected by the general membership, one will be a self-identified practitioner and the other two slots filled by academic members. Furthermore, in even-numbered years, one of the academic slots is now reserved for an early-career academic member, defined as someone within 10 years of receipt of their terminal degree.

Finally, two student seats have been created on the Policy Council, each for a two-year, staggered term. One student will be appointed annually by a committee co-chaired by the APPAM President and the Chair of the Institutional Representatives.

The impact of the changes described above on the size and composition of the Policy Council are illustrated in the figure below. To the extent possible, we have tried to maintain the current balance of academics and practitioners on the Council. The relative minimum shares of the Policy Council held by practitioners or academics changes only slightly under the amended bylaws—the ratio of the minimum practitioners to academics would increase from 0.4 (eight practitioners divided by 20 academics before the reduction) to 0.5 (four practitioners divided by eight academics after the reduction). However, the ultimate academic and practitioner shares depend on the selection of APPAM officers on the executive committee and the selection of the institutional representatives that serve on the Policy Council.

II. Additional Changes in the Bylaws

The new bylaws include minor revisions in Sections IV.4 and VIII.5. These revisions do not change the way in which in the Association functions; rather, they have aligned the bylaws with the current Association practice, in place for several years.